Adventure Magazine Cover — page 145: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

The Spider that = was lying to her because there was no camp where he had said. Of course, that instantly showed him that his shrewd guess had been right, and that she or her man had sought that camp. He was not foolish enough to let her see his thought, however, and he told her that the plans had been changed and the new camp was being made at another place. After that they talked on for some time, and he told her how handsome she was and so on. I was crouched in the canoe, as usual, watching everything like a cat, and listening. All at once my ear caught a tiny sound in the bush—a soft rustle as if something had brushed stealthily against some leaves. Pedro and the woman were talking low, and I put all my attention on that little sound. It might be only a wandering breeze, a crawling snake or some other natural thing, but I had to be sure. Soon I heard it again, very soft, and J knew something was creeping nearer to us. Then, at a place where the tangle was very thick, I saw a slight movement caused by something about the height of a man. “Take care, Pedro!”’ I shouted. Like a flash he dodged and leaped forward, landing several feet away. Like a flash an arrow sped through the place where he had been. I threw up my rifle and fired straight at the spot where I had seen the movement; but even as my finger pressed the trigger I knew the bullet had missed, for a violent shaking of leaves showed that the man there had thrown himself sidewise. Then, while I was throwing another cart- ridge into the barrel, the killing of that man was taken out of my hands. The woman sprang at the bush. In one hand she held Pedro’s machete, which she had snatched from his belt. With that weapon she hacked and stabbed in a fury that was terrible to see. I caught glimpses of a body writhing under her and heard a snarl, a broken scream and a groan. Then the body lay still and we heard no sound but the slash of the long knife through the leaves as the woman struck and struck and struck. For a moment Pedro and I were para- lyzed. Then Pedro seized her and twisted the dripping machete from her hand. I jumped ashore, and while she stood shaking and sobbing with rage we dragged the body out and looked at it. “Por Deus!’ muttered Pedro. Spider!” “The 131 YES, senhores, it was the Spider. He was a frightful thing to look at, . but he was the Spider—the man whom we had theught dead and who now truly was so. Even in death he looked the Spider, for his arms and legs were crumpled up as if something had smashed him. From his belt hung a narrow bag made from a skin, and in it were several arrows. Stepping into the place where his woman had killed him, we found his bow—a short, clumsy but powerful weapon that could drive an arrow clear through a man at close range. While we were looking at this we heard a dragging sound and stepped out in time to see the last of the Spider. With one hand the woman was hauling him to the river. There she picked him up as if he were only a monkey, swung him and threw him out into the water. He struck and sank with a soggy splash, A moment later the water began to seethe and boil. We knew the pzranhas, those ravenous cannibal fish, were swarming upon him and chopping him into frag- ments. So thick were they that some of them were crowded up into the air, snapping their jaws like traps. A red stain grew on the surface and slowly drifted down the current with that hellish boiling going on under it. Before long, though, the water grew quiet again, and the red stain floated out of sight. Then the woman looked at Pedro. The hatred faded out of her face, her fierce eyes softened and she took his hand and led us away into the jungle. We traveled for some distance and stopped at length in a place where Pedro looked about and said— ‘“‘This is where Antonio disappeared.” We could not see anything strange, though at one spot the tangle of vines and bush was very thick and matted to- gether, as it may be anywhere in those forests. The woman saw we were puzzled and she walked up to that tangle—and sud- denly she was gone. But she called, and we followed her. And as we reached the matted vines a part of them moved out- ward like a door, and there she was, laugh- ing like a little girl playing a game. Senhores, that was the Spider’s nest—a lair madefrom the growing bushes and vines so cunningly twisted and woven among themselves that aman could stand within GEomichboo Ss (E(@) 3